GameStorm 14: Here We Go

One of the main board gaming rooms at GameStorm. Photo: Jonathan Liu

Hey, board gamers! This is just a reminder that GameStorm 14 is happening now in Vancouver, Washington. It kicked off at 2pm yesterday, and goes until Sunday evening, with some rooms open for 24-hour gaming the entire weekend. There is a huge board game library to check things out, lots of tables dedicated to particular games as well as open tables throughout the convention center, and even a Game Lab where you can volunteer to try out a game prototype and give feedback to the designers. (Fellow GeekDad Erik Wecks and I may even run a demo of our own prototype which has been years in the making … maybe more on that later!)

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This is my first time at GameStorm, but it’s been pretty fun so far, just being in a big room with lots of gaming going on. A couple folks from Steve Jackson Games are here as special guests, and I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to play some Axe Cop Munchkin or maybe Frag this weekend. There are rooms dedicated to LARP, miniatures wargaming, CCGs, RPGs, storytelling games, kids’ games … even two rooms for LAN gaming and console gaming. It’s sort of the reverse of PAX — predominantly board gaming with some videogames on the side (although much smaller and without as much of an exhibit hall).

So far I’ve gotten to try out Dragon Dice (one I heard about at PAX Prime last fall but never manage to play until now) and spent some time with Ray Wehrs of Calliope Games, trying out the upcoming sequel to Tsuro (the original is one of our 2011 Games of the Year), Double Double Dominoes, and a funny party game that’s still in beta. I also taught Erik and a few other folks how to play Agricola — by roundly beating them at it. Woohoo! But I expect to lose quite a few games this weekend, too.

I’m also planning to break out prototypes of several games that are currently on Kickstarter to try them out: Cartoona (which I’ve already reviewed here), Zpocalypse, Shadow Days, and Velociraptor Cannibalism. You can click the titles to check out their Kickstarter pages, but I’ll try to report back on what the games are like after the weekend is over.

In the meantime, you can follow Erik and me on Twitter — I don’t know how often I’ll be tweeting (since I’ll be busy playing games) but I’ll try to check in every so often and let you know what’s going on. GeekMom Cathe Post will also be attending at least part of the weekend, though we didn’t run into her yesterday.

If you’re in the Portland/Vancouver area, you can still show up and register for individual days, so come on over and play some games!